The Real Mrs Reddington
by CorkyB45
Summary: Missing scene from Lord Baltimore. The conversation that should have happened between Red and Lizzie about Naomi Hyland, the real Mrs. Reddington. Lizzington if you want it to be. Disclaimer: I don't own the Blacklist. I just like playing to other people's toys.


The end of an incredibly long day found Red laying in the dark on the latest hotel room bed. He knew he should be spending this time continuing his hunt for Berlin, but he found himself far too tired to think clearly. He doubted that he'd actually fall asleep, but at least his body was getting the rest it needed. It wasn't until he heard the bedroom door open that he realized he had fallen sleep.

"Come in. " Red called out hoarsely.

The bedroom door opened halfway allowing the light from the hallway to cut through the darkness of the room. As Red squinted against the bright light he saw Dembe in the doorway.

"Raymond I'm sorry to wake you but Agent Keen is here asking to speak with you. It seems quite urgent." Dembe rumbled out in his Sudanese accent.

Red was seriously considering asking Dembe to tell Lizzie that that she needed to come back in the morning, but then he saw her head peaking over Dembe's shoulder. He pulled himself up until he was sitting on the edge of the bed. After running his hands over his face in an effort to wake himself up completely, he motioned for Dembe to let Lizzie into the room.

"I'll be waiting in the other room if you need me for anything."

Liz watched Dembe move back into the living area of the small suite before walking through the open doorway.

"Do you mind if I turn on the lights?' Lizzie asked him.

"No, go ahead. I doubt I'll be getting anymore sleep tonight."

With a flick of her wrist she bathed the room in light. She looked around the room trying to find a place to sit. She found a small table in the corner of the room with two chairs positioned next to it. Liz pulled the nearest chair over to a position nearer to the bed where Red was sitting. She decided to give him an update on the case before moving on to the subject she really wanted to know about.

"We haven't made any more progress trying to track down where Berlin has taken Naomi. We are assuming that she is with him wherever he's been hiding. There is no link that we can find between Naomi and Berlin except for you. Have you had any luck locating her on your own?"

Liz was watching Red's face and body language closely to see if he'd give away any indication that he knew where they were holed up. Red hadn't even flinched when she'd mentioned Naomi's name. How could he be sitting here so quietly while Berlin did who knows what to his wife, or more accurately his ex-wife? If she was going to be honest with herself, she was more interested in finding out more about Naomi and what he'd known about her life after his disappearance.

"I haven't been able to locate anything other than what I've already told you. I did however have and interesting package delivered here earlier this evening. It's sitting on the table over there by the other chair. ' Red told her motioning for her to pick it up.

Lizzie moved back to the table and picked up the little antique jewelry box. Turning back look at Red briefly she lifted the lid up and gasped. Inside the box Naomi's dismembered index finger lay nestled in the satin blue interior. She barely restrained herself from flinging the box as far away from her as she could . Instead she placed the box back on the table.

"Why did he send you that? Has he made a ransom demand?" Liz demanded.

Red had dreaded this conversation ever since he saw Naomi's picture in the file of possible targets. He'd known that she and Grace had been put into Witness Protection after he'd been discovered selling government secrets. He'd tried many times to gain access to her location, but he couldn't find a single Marshal or anyone who worked in their offices that would accept payment for their new names and address.

"No, there hasn't been a ransom demand and there won't be one. This is too personal for ransom to satisfy his hunger for revenge. The problem with his solution is that he's aiming it at the wrong person. I didn't kill his daughter. And, I most certainly didn't dismember her so I could send her back to him in pieces. Nothing I can tell him, no matter what evidence I can produce will change his mind. Naomi is paying the toll for whomever actually committed the murder. He has told me that he's going to send Naomi back to me in pieces just like his daughter."

Lizzie could tell by now whether Red was lying or not. What he was telling her was the truth. Her first instinct was to not confront him about Naomi, but she knew if she didn't ask him now she might never get the truth out of him.

"You knew your wife wasn't dead. Why have you said that you didn't know what came of your wife and child when you knew that they were alive?" she said leaning forward in the chair bracing her elbows her knees.

Red turned his head from his contemplation of the carpet at his feet to look at her. "I didn't know they were alive until I saw her picture in your file. I suspected that she'd been hidden away some where by some government agency. I tried and tried to find the means of gaining access to that information. Just in case you are wondering I've been able to bribe agents in all the different arms of the government, except for the US Marshals. They are truly honest people."

He paused briefly before continuing. "Did Naomi say where Grace is now? Is there any information in Naomi's file that might help me locate her?"

"Red all I can tell you is that the file does not contain any information about a child. According to her records she has never had a child. When I spoke with Naomi she mentioned that her daughter and her were moved to Philadelphia after she was cleared of any wrong doing in connection to your treasonous acts. That was the one and only time she mentioned that she had a child at all. I can request that the Marshal's office provide Naomi's full file, but I already know they won't release it to us."

Red just nodded and slumped a little bit.

"When you disappeared on that Christmas Eve in 1990 why didn't you take them with you? Why leave them behind to deal with the fallout?"

Red moved around on the bed until he was sitting propped up against the headboard on a mount of pillows. He looked at Lizzie happy that Berlin didn't know that if he really wanted to make him suffer he would have taken Lizzie instead of Naomi. He had loved Naomi completely, but after twenty years apart that love had faded away. He didn't want her hurt any further, but if the choice came to Naomi or Lizzie he knew the person he would save and it wouldn't be the mother of his child.

"You are assuming that I left that night by choice. I was halfway home when I noticed I was being followed. I pulled the car off to the side of the road about a mile from my house. When I got out of the car I couldn't see the headlights anymore. I was just climbing back into the car when I was jumped from behind. The was all I remember about that night. I was taken by helicopter to a large yacht. We sailed for many days until we made port down in Central America. There I stayed for nearly three years. I finally managed to escape, but I realized I couldn't go back to my home. I would lead those tasked with finding me back to the two people in the world that could be used against me. My captors wanted all the Top Secret information I had learned about in my five years in the Naval Intelligence Agency."

Red paused long enough to take a sip of water from the glass on the night stand.

"Those holding me had gotten careless a handful of times and managed to see some of the people who came and went from estate. I recognized my boss at the NIA. I knew then who had betrayed me. If my government was willing to torture and eventually kill me, then I didn't need them. I sold my first small item of almost worthless information. I realized then just how valuable what I knew was worth."

Liz was finding it hard to believe the US government would do this to one of it's brightest officers.

"I went back to Maryland to locate my family after being gone for nearly five years. They were gone without a trace. I thought they had been killed so they couldn't talk. Now , I'm only afraid that Naomi will be killed before I find out where Grace is living. I honestly don't know if I'd ever make contact with her. I just want to make sure she's well and happy. I can only hope that she is okay."

Lizzie didn't know when her eyes had filled with tears, but as she gave Red a small tight smile a single tear made it's way down her face. She reached up and slowly wiped the tear from her cheek without breaking eye contact. Then she climbed to her feet and pushed the chair back to the table.

"I'll call you if I hear anything about Berlin or Naomi. Try and get some rest. I have a feeling this might be the last quiet night we'll have until Berlin is recaptured or killed."

She moved to the door and stopped in the doorway to look back at Red. "We'll find her Red and we'll make her tell us where Grace is living. I promise you we won't stop until we both have the answers we need." With that she closed the door behind her.

Red hoped she was right about them finding Grace. He'd used every tool at his disposal to find her without success. Somehow, with Lizzie at his side, he felt that he could do anything.


End file.
